Benzema starts in Al-Ittihad's match against Al Riyad on Sunday in the Saudi championship. The club announced it on X, the day after a series of tweets showing him smiling alongside coach Marcelo Gallardo and reporting that he was “preparing to play again” The 2022 Golden Ball was not selected by his club to play in the round of 16 first leg of the Asian Champions League on Thursday in Uzbekistan.
The 36-year-old Frenchman had asked to “temporarily” leave the club, which offered him a loan to another team.